Christmas Cards
by Cytherea4
Summary: Abby with a family. Every year, she sends a Christmas card to Gibbs with an updated picture of her kids. Rated M just to be safe. Right now it is McGeeAbby, with definite hints of GibbsAbby and it may ultimately be them, not sure yet. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

She sent him a Christmas card every year, one of the ones you send that has an updated picture of the family—well, mostly the kids. The ones to you send to people that aren't around all that much so they can see how much the kids have grown over the past year.

He assumed that she sent them to everyone on the team; she didn't. Every year, she found the best picture of the children and made a special copy of it just for him, placing it inside the card that she barely wrote anything on. She didn't have to; he didn't need it. Although they all knew that she did it, nobody ever thought to ask why; they figured it was just another one of her quirks.

She felt arms wrapping around her as she signed the card. She smiled up at her husband, who was now gazing at the picture lying next to the card.

"Wow. How time flies. I can't believe that Joyce is almost a teenager. It still feels like just yesterday that I was constantly hanging around your lab, wishing for moments alone with you and trying to convince you that we ought to give it another try." She laughed.

"Oh Timmy, if only I knew then how happy we would be now!" He kissed the top of her head and hugged her tightly.

"I'm going to go make dinner. You've had a stressful week; you need to relax. Go ahead upstairs and take a nap. I'll come wake you when it's ready."

"Sounds good. Thanks Tim!" Abby started to make her way up the stairs, but then stopped and turned around. Glancing at the card on the table, she grabbed the picture and took it with her upstairs. She sat on the bed examining it, thinking about just how right he was. Time really had flown by.

Tim had proposed on Halloween in 2008. They were married on May 24th, 2009. Abby had actually wanted to be married on Halloween, but they didn't want to wait that long. To everyone's surprise, the delightful goth wore a white gown, but it certainly did not lack her unique taste with the black in it. She wore her hair in pigtails. Tony was their best man, and Ziva the maid of honor. Abby placed a black rose on a seat right in front in memory of Kate. Everything was black and white. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception incredibly fun. Abby danced with Gibbs and wished things could be different.

Caitlin Joyce McGee was born on July 4th, 2010, weighing seven pounds and four ounces at 21 inches. Abby had stopped working only a few months before, and Tim was searching for a safer job now that they had a child. It was an ironic farewell to NCIS that their firstborn child was born on the most important day in the history of their country, which they had both served faithfully for most of their lives. It became apparent all too quickly that it would be just too hard to call the baby Kate. They called her Joyce from then on.


	2. Chapter 2

Abby's mind was wandering. Six months after Joyce was born, they left her with Tim's sister to go out and celebrate with their former teammates from NCIS. They met Tony, Ziva, and Gibbs at a bar not to far from the NCIS headquarters. Abby had been nervous the whole night. She was planning something quite dangerous.

Tim wanted a lot of children. Abby was fine with that, but refused have children after she hit forty, so it made sense for them to try and have a few of them close together. It was late one night when Abby awoke, startled, from a nightmare. She had dreamt that she was at Gibbs funeral. He had died of old age, and as she looked around at the people surrounding his grave, she realized that he was all alone. There was no mourning wife or suffering child. They had died long before he, and wasn't it tragic that such a wonderful man had no offspring, no children to carry on whatever beauty was to be found in his genes. She could not let this happen. Gibbs had lost all hope with the loss of Shannon and Kelly. She began to devise a plan.

By late November, Tim was ready to start trying again. Every time they were together, Abby made sure to use some type of protection without him knowing. And finally, the night came.

Abby was sure that Gibbs was going to get drunk. His girl had just had a baby, and she was sure that seeing her and her husband to celebrate this was going to make Gibbs depressed. And she knew that he missed her at work; she missed him too. Sure enough, she was right. He had already had a few drinks by the time they got there, and with her and Tim ordered more rounds for everyone on them, it wasn't long before Gibbs was well on his way. It was a great night; Abby refrained from drinking, claiming that she wouldn't want to harm the baby that may or may not be growing inside of her yet. Even though that was a lie. By the end of the night, Tim had had a few too many as well, so Abby insisted on driving.

"Tim, you've had to much, and I won't let you risk our lives. I'll take you home, and then I'm going to bring Gibbs home."

"What?!—" Gibbs protested, but Abby cut him off.

"No, Gibbs, I won't let you. Now get in the car!" Both men did as she asked. She gave Tony and Ziva a hug and a kiss, then got in the car. The ride was silent. She first dropped Tim off so that he could relieve his sister and check on the baby. Then, she drove Gibbs to his place.

He could barely walk, so she had to support him every step. Once in the house, Abby guided him up to his room and helped him put some pajamas on, then went to get him a glass of water. While getting it, she quickly pulled a little vial her purse and poured its contents into the water. She brought it to Gibbs and made sure that he drank the whole thing. Then, she waited.

In a few minutes, it was over. He was passed out on the bed. She knew that with the GBH that she had given him, he wouldn't remember any of this in the morning, and he was certainly not going to wake up. She opened her purse and took out the equipment she brought from the lab. She heart fluttered; she was nervous, but excited too.

She hesitated. She knew this was wrong, she knew she shouldn't be doing this. But she couldn't help it. She felt an incontrollable urge, a duty, to what she was doing. This would be her only chance. Decisively, she took it. Abby got to work.

When she was done, she covered Gibbs up with a blanket, and decided to use her specimen right away. She knew she wouldn't have a lot of time, so she went into the bathroom quickly. When she was finished, she cleaned up, and left Gibbs a note on his nightstand.


	3. Chapter 3

She didn't hear from him for a few weeks, but she called him when she found out she was pregnant again to tell him. It was a boy this time; she knew it. When she was six months pregnant, she decided it was about time to start thinking about names for the baby.

"So Tim, I was thinking of names, and if it is a boy, can we name him Jethro?"

"Gee, Abby, that's a great idea… but I really wanted to name my first son Timothy."

"Oh Timmy, you know that I would love to have a son named after you! But after all Gibbs has done for us, I think we ought to show him how much we appreciate and respect him. We will have more children, I promise. And the next boy can be named after you. Ok?" Tim consented, even though Abby knew that he really did not want to. They agreed that Gibbs would be asked to be the godfather.

Abby had an amniocentesis, and performed the tests herself. Her baby boy was free of all genetic diseases, and the father was definitely Gibbs. She had to be sneaky to get his DNA, because everyone was watching her and wanted to spend time with her while she was in the lab for the day. She had to take care that nobody was aware of the paternity test that she had run on the child.

Shortly after Joyce was a year old, Abby gave birth to Jethro Kalon McGee on September 21st, 2011, weighing nine pounds at 23 inches. It was hard for her to fill out the birth certificate, knowing that she was lying about the baby's father and his last name, but she knew it had to be done. Gibbs came to visit her in the hospital, where she asked him to be his godfather (he said yes) before handing him the birth certificate so that he could see the baby's name. Gibbs smiled and asked if he could hold the baby.

He was honored, as she knew he would be. But when she watched him holding and cuddling his child, she wished with all her heart that she could tell him. As if he read her mind, he turned to glance at her with those eyes of his, and for a split-second she was terrified that he knew, that somehow, he had figured it out. But the moment passed.


	4. Chapter 4

Since then, Abby had two more children. Timothy James McGee, born August 22nd, 2012, and Devonny Anne McGee, born October 31st, 2013. It was now December of 2022. Joyce was 12, turning 13 in July. Jethro had just turned 11. Timothy was 10, and Devonny was 9. Abby stared at the picture. Joyce had beautiful, wavy brown hair, and green eyes. She was in a green dress, her arms around Jethro and Timmy, with Devonny in her lap. Jethro looked exactly like Gibbs. Abby was curious as to whether or not anyone had figured it out. She hadn't counted on him looking _so much_ like him. Timmy was blue-eyed with blonde hair, and looked just like his dad when he was a child. Devonny had naturally black hair, the kind of hair that Abby had longed for all her life. It was perfectly straight, and she had big deep brown eyes that could make you melt. She loved all of her children. They were a wonderful combination of the best qualities of herself and Tim, with the exception of Jethro—who was so like Gibbs in his expressions and actions that it was scary sometimes.

That first Christmas after Jethro was born, Abby decided to send Gibbs a Christmas card. In it, she put a picture of the young Joyce, with the newborn baby in her lap. Every year since then, she continued to do so. Even if he didn't know it, Abby wanted him to have a record of his child; wanted him to watch Jethro growing and be able to look at him from time to time, if he so chose.

Abby heard footsteps on the stairs. It brought her back to reality immediately, and when Tim opened the door, she rose to greet him. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, then followed him back down the stairs where dinner awaited them. As she walked past, she placed the picture back on the table with the card for Gibbs. After dinner, she would mail it.


	5. Chapter 5

Christmas and New Year's was come and gone, with nothing really eventful happening. Before she knew it, it was February—the 14th, to be exact. The kids were all at school and Tim was at work. They didn't have any plans, but Tony and Ziva were insistent that they do something nice for each other, so they offered to pick up the kids from school and let them spend the night with them. Tony was excited to have a boy's night with Jethro and Timmy, and Ziva loved spending time with Joyce and Devonny, so it worked out well.

It was just past noon, and Abby was sitting at her computer. She really missed working, especially for NCIS. Now that the kids were all in school, she felt as though maybe she could go back. It would be hard though, because she wouldn't be able to work the long hours that NCIS demanded. She didn't even know if they would take her back, but it was nice to dream. She got up to go make herself lunch.

She gasped, startled. She hadn't even heard him come in, but there he was. Gibbs, sitting on her bed, staring at her. He had something clutched in his hand, and without having to look at it, Abby knew that it was the picture that she had sent him for Christmas this year. She sat down on the bed next to him.

"He's mine, isn't he?" Abby nodded. Gibbs sighed. They sat there in silence. Abby was anxiously waiting the questions that she was sure were coming; they didn't come. She didn't know if Gibbs was waiting for an explanation from her, or if he had figured it out.

Abruptly, Gibbs got up and started to walk towards the door.

"Gibbs!" Abby jumped up and cried out after him, grabbing his arm to stop him from leaving. He turned and handed her something—it was a picture that he had been holding underneath the one that she sent him. It was a picture of himself when he had been Jethro's age. There was no mistaking the similarities. The picture of Gibbs easily could have been a picture of her son. The only real difference was in the technology of the photos. She only pondered why he hadn't figured it out sooner. She looked up quickly to get his attention.

"Do you—do you… do you want to know what happened?" she asked timidly. Gibbs raised his eyebrows, a clear indication that the answer was yes.

"Come downstairs; I'll make you lunch, and explain the whole thing." And so she did. While she told her story—her nightmare, her idea, her carefully devised plot, her execution, and her motivations, Gibbs stayed silent. When she had finished, she threw her arms around him, practically in tears.

"I'm sorry Gibbs! I'm sorry that I had to do this but it _was_ the right thing! And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, but I couldn't, you understand? But I can't help but be grateful that I did it, that I went through with it. Jethro has been such a blessing that—" he stopped her by placing his finger across her lips and pressing his lips to her cheek. The tears began to slowly creep down her cheek, and she collapsed into his arms.

"I want to get to know my son. I want him to spend at least one weekend a month with me from now on. Is that understood?" Abby nodded.

"But you can't, you can't—" he cut her off.

"I know Abbs, I know." As he spoke, he signed "my girl" to her, and she smiled.


	6. Chapter 6

After that, Gibbs began to take a much greater interest in his "godson". He started coming over for dinner more often, which worried McGee at first. He didn't know what to make of his former bosses frequent visits, and hoped that there was nothing going on. Abby convinced him that Gibbs was lonely, and that it was good for him to be getting out more instead of spending all his time in his basement, alone, working on his boat.

Jethro loved it when his godfather came to visit. Although he was still young, he had the utmost respect for the work that his parents and their friends did, and this was especially true in the case of his godfather. They bonded quickly, and Jethro was constantly asking Gibbs to tell him stories about his cases. Gibbs was always gentle with him, telling him about cases as honestly and as carefully as he could. He never crossed the line; never made Jethro scared or nervous. Every so often, Gibbs started taking him to work, and it wasn't long before Gibbs' request was able to happen. McGee saw the admiration that Jethro had for his namesake, and didn't need any persuasion in allowing the boy to spend one weekend a month with Gibbs. A part of him silently hoped that Jethro would grow to be as wonderful as Gibbs was someday.

Gibbs himself was not so shocked at the news when Abby finally confessed to him that Jethro was actually his. He always had his suspicions, but couldn't figure out how it could have happened. He remembered the night after the bar, but knew that he nothing could have happened between the two of them. Not only would Abby resist for her marriage, but also, he would never have intruded like that himself. But he didn't remember what happened after he got back home, and it took almost eleven years for him to confirm anything.

Little Jethro was wonderful, and reminded him of Kelly more than he cared to reflect. He knew that McGee was a fine father, but he regretted not being able to be there for all the wonderful little joys that fatherhood holds. He remembered watching Kelly grow up, the slightest changes as she matured day to day. Her first step, her first word (dada), her first solid food (banana)… to her first friends and her first day of school, and everything in between.

He wondered how McGee never questioned the paternity of his eldest son. It seemed so obvious to him, and even Ziva gave him knowing looks when she saw the two of them together. They never spoke about it, but they both knew each other knew.

The truth of the matter was that it didn't really matter. He missed Abby, and was thrilled to discover that she had taught the children sign language. Jethro became the best at it though, simply because of all the extra practice that he got with Gibbs. Sometimes, they would spend days in silence, only using sign language to communicate.

Abby was still the same 'Abbs' that he had grown to love over the years at NCIS, only slightly more mature. She had never lost her goth nature, and Gibbs was glad for it. She just wouldn't be the same; she wouldn't be herself. It took him this long to admit it, but it was true. He did love her. But it was too late. She had made a life for herself, and she was truly happy with McGee. "Oh, Abbs" he thought to himself, "why couldn't I have figured this out sooner?"


End file.
